"Unacceptable": Olympic Track Star Tori Bowie's Death Highlights Black Maternal Health Crisis

[Uncle Joe]

Olympic track star Tori Bowie was eight months pregnant and in labor when she died on May 2, according to an autopsy. She was alone in her home at the time and may have suffered from respiratory distress and eclampsia, a rare but life-threatening pregnancy complication. Her baby also died. Bowie, a three-time Olympic medalist, was just 32 years old, and her death has led to an outpouring of grief and anger from friends and supporters who say it’s part of a larger Black maternal health crisis. Across the United States, Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy and childbirth complications than white women. “What they’re failing to do is listen to Black women,” says Dr. Carla Williams, a doula and OB-GYN who says she opted for home births after a negative hospital experience with her first pregnancy. “More work needs to be done in order to take care of the birthing population the way that it should be.”

[marble falls]

1. Unacceptable is nicest word that can be used here. Incomprehensible and shameful are two more.

[2naSalit]

2. Systemic bias...

Comes to mind as an explanation.

[elias7]

3. The issues Dr Williams speaks on notwithstanding, Bowie's death is odd

All we know is that she was 8 months pregnant, home alone and in labor.

Eclampsia and/or respiratory distress is considered (by whom?) but whether the medical system let her down here is not clear.

Perhaps she had encountered racism in previous OB visits that made her resistant to seeking help when it was needed. Perhaps she had called about pre-eclampsia symptoms and was not listened to. These are the types of experiences Dr. Williams speaks generally about, but we don’t know if Bowie, who was clearly in need of active and emergent medical attention, had reached out to friends, family, health care workers or first responders.

It’s fine to discuss issues that black women face in maternal health care, but to assume this was a systemic failure is premature.

In reading a bit more, her agent Kimberly Holland did bring up her resistance to pre-natal care, not wanting have the baby in the hospital, and perhaps some mental health issues - she only weighed 96 pounds at her death - very light for 5’9” Olympic athlete in 8th month of pregnancy. And articles mention history of bipolar disorder, which may or may not have been an issue. She had not been heard from for 3 days, but I don’t see a report of who asked for a welfare check by the police. She clearly did not have a strong social network.

Symptoms of labor and symptoms of pre-eclampsia/eclampsia are not subtle; eclampsia at least can be sudden, especially if not suspected in the course of good pre-natal care.

All in all, a tragedy that could have been avoided, but I cannot in fairness conclude that this was a failure of the medical establishment without more information.

[Warpy]

4. She had opted for home birth

There are lay midwives out there with perfect safety records because they know how to spot potential complications early and make appropriate referrals. I have to wonder if she had a midwife, at all.

The midwives I know are no-nonsense enough to call an ambulance for a balky patient with mental health issues and pregnancy complications, no matter how motivated they are to avoid the medical system.

It sounds like she didn't fall through the cracks, she jumped through them and was allowed to. Our laws governing people with mental health problems being written by civil libertarians who think people who aren't capable of caring for themselves somehow will if left alone by the system.

This wasn't a medical failure, this was a legal failure leading to a suicide.

[elias7]

5. Agreed regarding the acumen of midwives and doulas

And I further agree the larger issue is one of allowing those least vested in community health to dictate legal and financial policies related to physical and mental health.

I think what caught my eye was that all the stories I could find about this tragedy were focused on the racial disparity in OB care. Certainly the story of Dr Williams seeking home birthing was borne out of her feeling mistreated in the hospital OB setting on the basis of race. That is an important story and has become THE story for Tori Bowie, but her death highlights much more than just a black maternal health crisis.